Elsie Maud Wakefield was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 mycologist

Mycology

Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans as a source for tinder, medicinals , food and entheogens, as well as their dangers, such as poisoning or...

 and plant pathologist.

Background and education

Miss Wakefield was born in Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, the daughter of a science teacher. She was educated at Swansea High School for Girls and Somerville College, Oxford

Somerville College, Oxford

Somerville College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and was one of the first women's colleges to be founded there...

, where she received a first class honours degree in botany.

Career in mycology

After completing her degree, Miss Wakefield worked with Prof. Karl von Tubeuf in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, where she undertook cultural studies on the larger fungi, publishing her first paper there, in German. On her return in 1910, she became assistant to George Massee

George Edward Massee

George Edward Massee was an English mycologist, plant pathologist, and botanist.-Background and education:George Massee was born in Scampston, East Yorkshire, the son of a farmer...

, head of mycology and cryptogams

Cryptogams

The name cryptogams is used fairly widely as a phrase of convenience, although regarded as an obsolete taxonomic term. A cryptogam is a plant that reproduces by spores...

 at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...

. On his retirement in 1915, she took over his position as head of mycology.

In 1920, she took advantage of a travelling scholarship to spend six months working as a mycologist in the West Indies. Subsequently she remained at Kew until her retirement in 1951, working on British and tropical fungi, with a particular interest in corticioid and tomentelloid species

Tomentella

Tomentella is a genus of corticioid fungi in the Thelephoraceae family. The genus is ectomycorrhizal, and widespread, with about 80 species. It was circumscribed by Narcisse Théophile Patouillard in 1887.-Species:*T. angulospora*T. asperula...

. During this time, she also published several papers on plant pathology. Dr R.W.G. Dennis joined her as an assistant in 1944, becoming head of mycology on her retirement.

Elsie Wakefield was elected President of the British Mycological Society

British Mycological Society

The British Mycological Society is a learned society established in 1896 to promote the study of fungi.-Formation:The Society was formed based on the efforts of two local societies, the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club of Hereford and the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union. The curator of the Hereford...

 in 1929. She was awarded an OBE in 1950.

During her career, she published almost 100 papers on fungi and plant pathology, together with two popular field guides to the larger British fungi. She described many new species, from Britain and overseas. The fungal genera Wakefieldia

Wakefieldia

Wakefieldia is a genus of two species of fungi in the Boletaceae family.-External links:* at Index Fungorum...

and Wakefieldiomyces

Wakefieldiomyces

Wakefieldiomyces is a genus of fungi within the Clavicipitaceae family....

are named after her, as are the species Aleurodiscus wakefieldiae, Amaurodon wakefieldiae, Brachysporium wakefieldiae, Crepidotus wakefieldiae, Hypochnicium wakefieldiae, Poria wakefieldiae, and Postia wakefieldiae.

Selected publications

• Wakefield, E M. (1912) . Nigerian Fungi. Kew bulletin of miscellaneous information 1912: I4I -I44
• Cotton, A. D. & Wakefield, E.M. (1919). A revision of the British Clavariae. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 6: 164-198
• Wakefield, E.M. (1921). Mosaic diseases of plants. West Indian Bulletin 18: 197-206
• Buddin, W. & Wakefield, E.M. (1927). Studies on Rhizoctonia crocorum and Helicobasidium purpureum. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 12: 116-140
• Wakefield, E.M. & Dennis, R.W.G. (1950) Common British fungi. London: Gawthorn
• Wakefield, E.M. (1954). The observers' book of common fungi. London : Warne
• Wakefield, E.M. (1969). Tomentelloideae in the British Isles. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 53: 161-206.